Fun players, boring game. What do?

[SangoProduction]

So. I love the group. They are fun to talk with and be around. But god damn are the games boring to all hell.
Like, I can't even keep myself awake during the sessions.
But they are nice people.
But I really just feel like any other use of my time than playing the game would be more fun.

I don't know what to do. Please help.

[pabelfly]

Are you a player or the GM?

[SangoProduction]

I am a Player

[pabelfly]

So do you enjoy the adventure the DM is presenting to you? Or do you think the players have different goals to you, in terms of what they want from a game?

[SangoProduction]

So do you enjoy the adventure the DM is presenting to you? Or do you think the players have different goals to you, in terms of what they want from a game?

Pretty sure the group just enjoys vastly different things in their games than I do. They've even got a system in one of our games that turns RP encounters into structured, sterile roll-play encounters. And no one likes to describe anything in combat, beyond "Here's the to-hit, and damage."
It is mind-numbing.
But the side-conversations are enjoyable. Plenty of out of character jokes and what have you. And they are active through out the week, for the most part. But not the obnoxious activity where if you let your eyes off the discord for 5 minutes, you're irreparably behind on the conversation.

[Max Caysey]

So. I love the group. They are fun to talk with and be around. But god damn are the games boring to all hell.
Like, I can't even keep myself awake during the sessions.
But they are nice people.
But I really just feel like any other use of my time than playing the game would be more fun.

I don't know what to do. Please help.

I think you said it best, when stating: “I really just feel like any other use of my time than playing the game would be more fun.”

I would argue, that you should stop playing in/with that group if that’s really how you feel!

[pabelfly]

Pretty sure the group just enjoys vastly different things in their games than I do. They've even got a system in one of our games that turns RP encounters into structured, sterile roll-play encounters. And no one likes to describe anything in combat, beyond "Here's the to-hit, and damage."
It is mind-numbing.
But the side-conversations are enjoyable. Plenty of out of character jokes and what have you. And they are active through out the week, for the most part. But not the obnoxious activity where if you let your eyes off the discord for 5 minutes, you're irreparably behind on the conversation.

For roleplay, it sounds like you'll have to invest build resources into your preferred roleplay stats, or you'll want to develop a character with some justification as to why they're not going to make a bunch of those roleplay checks. You might actually find it fun to play a character that is bad at diplomacy and does it anyway.

For combat flavour, you might have to start adding flavour of your own to describe your own attacks, as long as the DM is happy with it.

If you're enjoying the side conversations, perhaps ypu might try behaving in a wa that encourages more of these side conversations.

If those don't work, the last option is to volunteer to run some games yourself, or find another group. If you try to change things and you're still not enjoying the game, you might just have to accept that you're not a right fit for eachother.

[Batcathat]

It sounds like you've nailed what the problem is, but I suspect there's no easy fix to people having different preferences. I suppose you could try to persuade them to play things how you prefer, but even if you succeed it's probably likely they won't like that any more than you like the current way.

So yeah, the options are probably to either find something you enjoy enough about the game to make it worth your while or find another group (while presumably still hanging out with this one, of course. Sounds like you'd probably enjoy playing board games with them or something).

[Mordante]

So. I love the group. They are fun to talk with and be around. But god damn are the games boring to all hell.
Like, I can't even keep myself awake during the sessions.
But they are nice people.
But I really just feel like any other use of my time than playing the game would be more fun.

I don't know what to do. Please help.

What do you expect of a game and do the other players have different expectations?

[Gruftzwerg]

I am a Player

Play a mascot! ^^

I mean it. Play something out of the ordinary that adds the "chaotic" element to the interactions at your table.

An example:

I once played a DWK pretending to be a "true dragon with a size complex". Kill anyone (or demand a duel if he doesn't take his words back, depending on your alignment) who makes fun of the lack of size when you claim to be a true dragon. This can be a funny running gag where your allies try to ensure that nobody break the taboo and talks about "that (size) topic".

I payed a caster who claimed to cast "Permanency + Enlarge Person" on me. I the end he had to pay for it (since Enlarge Person doesn't affect "dragons"..^^)!

Play a warlock/rogue abusing "Summon Swarm" and "Conceal Spellcasting" (or abuse the invisibility invocation) to scare off the townspeople. I did regularly abused this (cast outside safe into the air, so that they only move near to townpeople in a single round) when entering buildings "to give the moment more impact".^^

Push Ride to ride your teammates. Jump on the meatshield of your party and support him with Mounted Combat (feat, can be get via Riding Boots if you don't wanna take the feat).

Get Invisibility (walk unseen) and Dimension Door (Flee the Scene) at-will to enter and leave any buildings. Note that you can also take your allies with you when using DD. With this you can always pull of some pranks. If things get to boring, pull of some pranks with this combo to force some NPC reactions from your DM.


This is just one example. There are many options to go imho. Be it a pure prank focused character, or to have some kind of hard addiction (e.g. gold or combat) that it becomes problematic in some situations.

Have some nice realistic character flaws to get out of the ordinary box of normal interactions in the game. And if you can, try to encourage your friends to do the same. Let the characters flaws (not the "flaws" as in extra feats, but those can also be taken as base) to fool around with.

[Quertus]

Fun is everyone’s responsibility. But it’s best when you can create and protect your own fun.

So, what’s your cup of tea?



Pretty sure the group just enjoys vastly different things in their games than I do. They've even got a system in one of our games that turns RP encounters into structured, sterile roll-play encounters. And no one likes to describe anything in combat, beyond "Here's the to-hit, and damage."
It is mind-numbing.
But the side-conversations are enjoyable. Plenty of out of character jokes and what have you. And they are active through out the week, for the most part. But not the obnoxious activity where if you let your eyes off the discord for 5 minutes, you're irreparably behind on the conversation.

Looks like you enjoy… talking, and talking. Got it.

Descriptive combat? Not judging, but I’m personally not a fan (it slows the game down). So my ability to give advice is limited.

However… once upon a time, I played with a player who, for one and only one of his PCs, he would narrate his combat actions… then change tone, and give the dry boring statistics. Because of the *difference* from his usual play style, it added character to the character.

So, don’t do it in your current game, with your current character, but keep this idea in your back pocket for a future character.

Wanting to talk to NPCs, but your group has turned it into “talking to others: the dice game”? Yeah, that can be a problem.

Fortunately, there’s a whole bunch of other characters you can talk to, already in the game: the other PCs! That’s right, the players probably won’t pull out the dice when you ask them about their character’s past, their opinion on politics, their plans for the future, or what they’d look for in an ideal mate. Having character secrets, not building the characters together, importing characters from other games with actual histories, etc, can add extra spice and depth to such conversations.

Yeah, your styles just might not be compatible, and you might be better off doing anything else, as you suggest. But I’ve tricked groups into roleplaying before, and I’ve every confidence that you can, too.

No, seriously, if you generally like the group, there’s things you can try to bring back your personal fun, to carve out your own space for enjoyment. And don’t forget that talking to them like mature adults is also a tool you could use. :smallwink:

[Telonius]

This is a hard one. You like the group, they're great people; it's just not working out for you.

I'd suggest talking it over with the DM (as well as the other members of the group) individually, outside of game time. Outside of the group setting, some of the players might have similar thoughts that they wouldn't be comfortable sharing in front of everybody.

Main thing is, you deserve to have fun, and so does everybody else in the group. See if you can work out some kind of a compromise. If your ideas of fun really aren't compatible, and some kind of compromise isn't really possible, you've got to decide whether or not you want to keep gaming with them.

Without knowing anything else about the group, some possible compromises:

Classic meet-in-the-middle: They learn to RP a bit, you do more dice rolling than you usually do.

Have a regular off-week where you play something else that's more your style.

Go full MST3K, and possibly bring a friend along. I've gotten a few people involved in campaigns who started out as observing hecklers.

The "mascot" idea isn't a bad one. It usually works out better for comedy (think Xykon's demon roaches) but you could play it straight too.

Multiple games: this one might not work (depending on where you're gaming) but you could hold another game in an adjacent space, with different people who play more your style. You're still hanging out with your friends, and still getting the great pre-game banter, but you split off to do your own thing when the game starts.